Archaeologists Found The Perfectly Preserved Corpse Of A 350-Year-Old French Noblewoman

Underneath the site of a former medieval convent in the French city of Rennes, a team of archaeologists were hard at work. Slowly, they uncovered secrets that had remained buried for hundreds of years. But when the researchers prized open the lid of a 350-year-old coffin, little could have prepared them for what they found inside.

Located in Brittany in northwest France, Rennes has been a thriving settlement since it was founded by a Gallic tribe in the second century B.C. Over the years, the city has grown, and today it’s home to more than 200,000 inhabitants. However, as Rennes moves into the modern age, its landscape is changing irrevocably.

Just one example of this modernization is the onetime Jacobin convent, a Dominican building initially constructed as far back as 1369. In the convent’s heyday, it acted as an important burial site and was particularly popular with the upper echelons of Rennes society.